It's All About the Bike
by Alyss Ashworth
Summary: In all respects, the day appeared to be a perfectly ordinary one. The river was bubbling, the pidgey were chirping, and the sun was shining. Alas, as in most situations of tranquility, something occurred which made this day far from ordinary. Two-shot
1. Chapter 1

_What? A story that isn't a romance? And it's not AAML?? What was I thinking *_* Ah well, you'll have to be content with the implied romantic connection between Ash and Misty_. _It's another two-shot too...all of my one-shots end up being way too long!_

**Dedication: **This story is for ThePalletTownKid, who suggested this idea. Sorry it's not quite as epic as you probably imagined :)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own pokemon, just the characters I made up. Which I would trade in any day for the rights to Ash and Misty.

* * *

Chapter One

In all respects, the day appeared to be a perfectly ordinary one. The river was bubbling, the pidgey were chirping, and a lone girl by the water recast her fishing rod in hopes of catching something rather than a useless magikarp. The road was empty save for a small, red bike, which was most likely belonged to the girl by the water's edge. It was a very peaceful day, one in which the sun was shining brightly and the wind was calm. Alas, as in most situations of tranquility, something occurred which made this day far from ordinary. The peacefulness was disturbed when suddenly...

Two children randomly appeared on the path. One was boy, who looked too young to be a trainer, with chestnut brown hair. His mouth hung open, and his expression led one to believe that he was deep in shock. His arms were wrapped securely around a strange looking pokemon. The pokemon was multiple shades of green, equipped with two translucent wings, and had a head roughly the shape of an onion. It was struggling to get out of the child's death grip.

Behind the boy was another child, this one a girl. She was older than the boy, probably in her early teens. She had long black hair that curled slightly around her lithe figure. One of her hands was clenched around the boy's arm and the other lay limp at her side. Her face showed that she was as shocked as the boy.

A moment passed. A pidgey chirped. The girl who's fishing sighed irritatedly and recast again, hoping to get a bite. Then, as suddenly as the two appeared, the black haired girl reacted.

"You idiot!" She walloped the boy on the head. From the way he cried out pulled away, she must have hit him pretty hard. "What have mom and dad told you about playing with legendaries?"

The pokemon being held by the boy chirps at the girl's reference to itself. "Geez Pheebs! You don't have to hit so hard!"

The girl, Phoebe, growled and smacked him again, albeit a bit lighter this time. "Well I wouldn't have to hit so hard if you would stop doing stupid stuff! Really Leon, you should know better than to ask Celebii to take you to the past!"

Leon pouted at his sister. "I didn't ask it too! I was just going over to play with Uncle Brock when Celebii grabbed my hand. Then you grabbed my other arm, an' there was that big burst of light, an' now we're here! 'Sides," he started to looked around. "Dad hung out with legendaries all the time as a kid, and he turned out alright."

Phoebe snorted. "Dad didn't 'hang out' with legendary pokemon." She told her younger brother. "He was the Chosen One Leon, and he was bound to meet up with them at one time or another while out saving the world. Besides, mom was always there to pull him out of trouble."

"Well, you're here to pull me out of trouble" Leon argued. "And we're the Chosen One's kids, that must count for something."

"Hmpf." Phoebe let the argument drop. "You're going to strangle Celebii pretty soon. Then we won't be able to get back home."

"Oh, sorry Celebii." Leon loosened his hold and Celebii chirped gratefully. It slid out from under his arms and flew up to hover around their heads.

"We need to leave right now, Leon. Mom and dad said bad things usually happen around legendary pokemon, and it's wrong to mess with the past." Phoebe turned to Celebii, ignoring her brother's whining that he wanted to stay. "Celebii, would you mind returning us to the present?"

The pokemon's expression became grave, and it shook its head violently back and forth.

"What?" Phoebe frowned, anxiety working its way into her voice. "You mean we're stuck here?"

Again, Celebii shook its head back and forth vigorously. It started doing pantomimes in mid air, obviously trying to tell the children something important.

Leon watched the pokemon for a few seconds before asking his sister, his eyes never leaving the dancing pokemon, "You getting any of this?"

"Nope."

"Me neither."

Celebii, having guessed the humans were not understanding the meaning of its actions, started to make different hand motions. The children stared at the pokemon who looked like it was doing interpretive dance, their heads tilted slightly to the side as if a new angle would make the message of the movements clear.

"Uh, there's something we have to do before going home?" Phoebe guessed, thinking of the time traveling, sci-fi books she liked to read.

Celebii nodded enthusiastically and did a small flip backwards, overjoyed she had understood.

"Really?" Phoebe smiled, pleasantly surprised. "Cool! Alright, so what do we have to do Celebii?"

The legendary pokemon launched into a whole new set of motions, and this time the dancing came with high pitch chirps and trills. Phoebe concentrated hard, excited she had understood the pokemon and eager to do it again.

Leon had long since given up on trying to figure out what Celebii was trying to say knowing his sister would get it sooner or later. Instead he looked around them, trying to puzzle out just _where_ Celebii had sent them. It looked vaguely familiar. They were on what seemed to be the main road. A couple of trees and shrubs dotted the country side, and to his left and down a hill was a river. He stared at the water longingly, it's sparkling blue surface calling out to him. His green t-shirt didn't allow much air through, and wherever they were it was summer time. Leon could feel the sweat slowly inch down through his short, spiky hair.

A flash of orange caught his attention. He shifted his gaze to the river side and saw that he and his sister were not alone. A girl was sitting on the bank, a rod in her hand and a bright red bag next to her. The girl was dressed in a bright yellow tank top and denim shorts complete with red suspenders. Leon stared at her for a moment, the gears in his young mind turning slowly...

"Phoebe!" A tug at the older girl's navy blue sundress made her look down. Leon was there, and on his face was an expression of a kid who's just been told that christmas would come early. "Phoebe!" He tugged repeatedly at her clothing. "Phoebe, guess what, there's-"

"Leon, shut up" his sister growled, shutting him off. "I had almost gotten what Celebii was trying to say when you made me lose my train of thought!"

"Sorry," Leon said automatically, not sounding sorry at all, "But there's a girl down there and guess who it is?" He didn't wait for Phoebe to reply but plowed right on, his eyes shining. "It's _mom_!"

"What?" Phoebe's eyes widened and she whipped her head around. She shifted her gaze to see the girl by the river, confirming that her brother's words were true. She could only see the back of the redhead, but...

"Oh Mew, that _is_ mom!" she whispered. "Ho-oh she looks young! She looks younger than I am! Which means," Phoebe turned to her brother. "We must be somewhere in Kanto like thirty years or so in the past!" She tore her eyes from the younger version of her mother and studied the scenery around them. "Wait, there's her bike!"

Phoebe pointed out the bicycle, not twenty feet away from where the two were standing. "If she still has her bike, dad must not have met her yet!" Phoebe scratched her head, confused. "I wonder why mom would leave her bike all the way up here while she's fishing. That's not too smart."

Celebii made a little noise of joy and flew past the children to hover near the bike. It started gesturing wildly at the contraption while glancing over its shoulder now and then as if expecting something to come down the road.

"Hey, Leon." Phoebe nudged her brother. "I think Celebii wants us to do something with mom's bike."

"But I wanna say hi to mom" Leon answered distractedly. "Hey mom!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled down the hill. "Hey- Mom! Hey! Look up here! Mis-"

"No, you idiot!" his sister hissed and clapped a hand over his mouth. "Shut up!"

Phoebe's words came too late. The redhead gave a slight jerk to the rod and started to turn around, wondering what the noise was.

"Crap!" Phoebe kept her hand secure over her brother's mouth and dragged him back into some bushes along the opposite side of the road. She looked around wildly and was reassured to see Celebii hovering at her side, hidden from view.

Phoebe waited for a few tense minutes before cautiously poking her head over the top of the bush. An empty road and lone bike were the only things that met her gaze. There was no commotion coming from the river area, only the sound of the water lapping lightly against the banks. Phoebe heaved a sigh of relief, grateful that the water pokemon trainer had not seen them. She turned her body away from the road and sat back on her heels, only to gasp and tense up again when something slimly and wet pressed against her hand.

"Gross!" She immediately removed her hand from Leon's mouth, his spit dripping from her palm. "You little freak," Phoebe fought to keep her voice contained to a whisper. "What did you do that for?"

"You were stuffocating me!" Leon grumbled, unconsciously following his sister's lead and keeping his voice low. "Why'd you drag us over here?"

"Because," Phoebe whispered hotly, pushing her brother out of licking range. "We can't let mom see us! And it's suffocating you loser, not stuffocating."

Leon frowned. "I'm telling mom you called me a loser when we get back!" He whined. "Or I'll just tell her right now!" The boy got up and was immediately yanked back down by his sister.

"No! You can't do that!" Phoebe explained. "If we interact with her at all, or anyone else for that matter, then it will mess with the whole future!"

"Why?" Leon asked curiously.

"Well, how would you react if some kid suddenly ran up to you, telling you he was your son from the future?" Phoebe rolled her eyes.

Her kid brother took a moment to think this over, one hand coming under his chin and eyes narrowing in concentration. When the answer hit him, Leon turned to his sister with sparkling eyes.

"Dude! That would be so wicked!" He pumped a fist in the air, mouth running with ideas about what he and his future son would do.

Phoebe shut him up with a flick to the head. "You missed my point little brother. Here it is, plain and simple. No interacting with the past. Screwing the with the past screws up the future," Phoebe spelled out slowly, making sure Leon was following what she said. "Usually when you tell people you're from the future, they lock you up in a crazy house. Besides, if you went and talked to mom right now, she might not catch dad on her fishing rod. Then they would never meet."

"Oh," Leon stated, mouth left open. "That would be bad."

"Yes, that would be bad," Phoebe agreed. "If mom and dad never meet, then that means they don't get married and have us. Either that or dad drowns because no one was there to fish him out. Both ways spell trouble for us and the future. No dad means no Chosen One to save the world" Phoebe reminded him. "So, do you get the gravity of the situation now?"

Leon gave her a funny look. "The what of the what?" he questioned.

Phoebe sighed. "Nine-year-olds," she muttered. "Do you get why we can't let ourselves be seen or heard?" She clarified.

Leon nodded his head vigorously. "Yeah! We should just leave right now so we don't mess somethin up! Celebii!  
He turned to the pokemon who had been watching their quiet bantering with interest.

"Cele?" It smiled and nodded.

"Take us home. Please," the child remembered to add.

"We can't leave yet," Phoebe reminded him as Celebii shook its head side to side. "Celebii says we have to do something here first, and I'm pretty sure it has to do with mom's bike. But what do we have to do with it..." She shifted her stance so she could see over the bushes. The only thing that met her gaze was her mother's red bike.

"What's going to happen?" she murmured to herself, eyes scanning the road. "Celebii should know that we can't interact with anyone, at the very least not with people who will recognize us. Whatever we do, we'll have to do it secretly..."

Silence descended upon the trio. Phoebe kept her eyes glued to the road while possible scenarios ran through her head. Leon sat on the ground next to her, absentmindedly pulling up grass. Celebii hovered next to the elder child, it's face becoming more and more worried as time passed. There was no sound except that of the river and the almost silent hum of Celebii's wings.

"I'm bored!" Leon complained not long after the vigil had started. "Why isn't something happening?"

"Is it possible for you to keep quiet for like two seconds?" Phoebe snapped, but there was a note of uncertainty in her tone. "I know something is going to happen...soon."

Leon sighed and returned to yanking out blades of grass. "I'm getting hungry," he groused. "Why did Celebii have to drag us from the party just when they were putting out the food? Do you think anyone'll notice we're not at the party anymore?" Leon asked his sister.

Phoebe thought for a moment. "I'm-- not sure. I think when we go back it'll be like we've never left. Hopefully," she added fervently. "If we mess up here and go back it could all be different. Or if we go back and people have noticed we've been gone, mom and dad are going to kill us."

"Yeah, but it wasn't our fault. _We _didn't ask Celebii to take us here!" Leon said quickly, trying to think of an excuse.

"True," Phoebe mused. "They might believe that... Hey wait! Did you hear that?"

"Prob'ly was my stomach." Leon placed a hand over the offending body part and wrinkled his nose. "I'm starving! And don't tell me to keep it quiet 'cause I can't!"

"No, not that." Phoebe flapped her hand at him to be quiet. "It's something else. I don't think it's a car or anything; it's too soft." She stretched out her neck to look further down the road. "What's that huge shadow doing there?"

"Where?" Leon crouched next to his sister and looked toward the road. Far down the beaten path was a dark spot; one that was traveling closer and closer to where the two children were hidden.

"Celebii," the legendary pokemon growled.

"Celebii?" Leon asked the pokemon warily. Its antennae were sticking straight up, and its whole body was trembling. "What's wrong? It's just a cloud."

"Leon, I don't think that's a cloud" Phoebe said slowly. The boy turned to his sister and saw that she was staring at the sky.

"Huh?" Leon looked up as well. Instead of a cloud, he saw a huge green and tan blob that was blocking out the sun. Slightly blinded by the glare, he couldn't tell exactly what it was. "What is that?"

"That," Phoebe began weakly. "Is what we've been waiting for. Right, Celebii?"

"Bii!" The pokemon nodded its head. "Bii, celebii, cele, celebii."

"What do we do?" Leon whispered anxiously.

"I don't know!" Phoebe whispered back, a bit of fear in her voice. "But," her tone hardened and her hands curled into fists. "We can't let it mess with mom and dad's past."

"Um, we might be too late." Leon pointed to the great blob. "Look!"

A mechanical arm was descending from what looked like the bottom of the flying craft. It snaked quickly and silently down to the ground. There, it seemed to pause for a moment of indecision before grasping the red bike that sat by the road side.

"No!" Leon tried to yell. Phoebe had clapped her hand back over his moth and wrapped her other arm around his torso to keep him from moving.

"Shut _up_," his sister growled. "We can't let mom know anything is happening, remember? If she hasn't noticed anything by now, then we need to keep it like that!"

She twisted her head back to the road in time to see the hand lift its prey into the sky and the belly of the aircraft. "Dammit," the teen murmured. "What the hell are we going to do now?"

She released Leon who immediately sprang away from her and wiped his mouth on his arm. "I'm telling mom you said a bad word" he threatened. "_Two _bad words."

"Shut up Leon!" Phoebe snarled. "Can't you _understand_?" she asked desperately. "Now mom doesn't have a bike. That means dad can't use it to get to the pokemon center and save Pikachu!"

Celebii flew around the siblings in an agitated manner. It began to tug on their hair and clothes, trying to pull them towards the road.

"Celebii, stop it! So now what are we gonna do?" Leon said dejectedly.

"We're going to get that bike back!" Phoebe whispered fiercely. Celebii ceased its antics as soon as the words left her mouth and pumped a fist in the air, giving a little victory cry.

"How? Won't mom notice us?" Leon asked in a small voice. "An' that thing moves fast!"

"We'll just have to go faster!" His sister smiled confidently. "We'll be going so fast no one will be able to see us!"

"Uh, in case you hadn't noticed, we don't have bikes or anything!" Leon exclaimed, gesturing at their bare surroundings.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "No duh little brother. I doubt you could pedal fast enough anyway. That's why we have pokemon." She raised her right arm to show him the bracelet she was wearing. It was a wide silver band studded with real pokeballs. She detached one of the pokeballs and enlarged it. "Don't tell me you forgot who I have on my Kanto team." She grinned, tossing the pokeball up and down. "Pokeball, go!"

In a mini explosion of light, a rapidash appeared beside her trainer. It blinked sleepily as if awaking from a long nap.

"Rapidash," Phoebe immediately went to her pokemon and stroked its nose comfortingly. "We're kind of in an emergency. We need speed and silence; can you do that?"

The fire pokemon huffed once and nodded its horned head. The girl smiled. "Excellent. Leon, get on rapidash. I'll give you a boost."

"You're so lucky you have pokemon" he muttered as Phoebe helped him scramble on top of the tall horse's back.

As soon as her brother was on, Phoebe leaped up behind him. "One more year and then you can go on your own journey" she reminded him. "Alright, just grip the mane with both hands and squeeze _lightly_ with your knees. I'll be controlling where we go."

"I've ridden before," Leon told her shortly.

"Sorry bro, riding one of dad's tauroses is not the same as riding a rapidash. Now let's go." Phoebe nudged her pokemon with her foot and clucked. Rapidash turned and surged forward, galloping after the people who held the children's future in their hands.

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_Review and I'll give you cookies! And by cookies I mean the second part, which is currently all done in my head (I know, not quite the chocolate chip delights you were thinking of). I just have to get it onto paper... Reviews make the process go faster!_


	2. Chapter 2

I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED THIS THING! *Slams head repeatedly against desk* Ugh... not ONLY would this fic just not end, but I have not been motivated to write due to all the crappy weather we've been having. But you didn't come here to read my ranting. It's summer time, the sun's finally shining, and I can sleep in until noon. Halelluja!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own pokemon, surprise surprise.

_This is written based off of a plot idea given to me by PalletTownKid. Sorry it took me this long to finish it!_

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Part Two

"You're right!" Leon gasped, clutching tighter to the fiery mane of the rapidash. "This is _nothing _like riding a tauros!"

Phoebe tossed her head back and laughed, black hair rippling in the wind. The sound of her laughter was lost in the wind as they rushed towards the blob in the sky. Soon they would be within range to attack, and then they could get their mom's bike back. It was vitally important the kids got the seemingly normal --if not old-- bike returned to the riverside as soon as possible. Their lives and the fate of the world depended on it.

"Phoebe," Leon yelled, trying to be heard above the roar of the wind, "where's celebii?"

"Aw dammit." Phoebe closed her eyes, mentally slapping herself on the forehead. She gritted her teeth and gave a little growl of frustration. _"Just like dad," _she thought. _"Always rushing into action without thinking. I guess that just proves I'm his kid." _

"You forgot celebii?" Leon exclaimed when he didn't hear his sister respond. He didn't dare try to turn all the way around, but he did turn his head to the side in order to say, "How could you forget celebii?"

"I was a little bit preoccupied," Phoebe snapped back, raising her voice in annoyance, "with getting mom's bike back to save the whole freaking world, so sorry!"

"What about us?" Leon screamed back. "How are _we _ supposed to get home?"

"Well, if you're so concerned about getting back, why weren't _you_ paying attention?" She glared at him, taking her eyes from the road. "You're nine years old Leon, shouldn't you be old enough to keep track of one little pokemon?"

Leon opened his mouth to respond but was cut short when rapidash suddenly whinnied and leaped forward. The two children were rocked forward, and Leon almost fell. He grabbed onto rapidash's neck and saw what made the pokemon jump.

Celebii twirled out from under the fire horse's legs and spiraled upwards until it was flying beside the children, laughing and dancing in the air currents. It saw Leon staring and waved, giggling once more before it took off to fly in front of them.

"But- nothing's faster than a rapidash!" Phoebe whispered, awestruck and just a little wounded that something could be faster than _her _pokemon. With a small frown on her face, Phoebe kicked rapidash into a sprint, calling as she did so, "Come on rapidash! Let's give it our all!"

Rapidash threw its head back and whinnied in agreement before it lowered its head and began to run until the trees were little more than a green blur on either side of them.

"Phoebe!" Leon yelped, shutting his eyes and tightening his hold on the pokemon's neck. "Make it stop!"

"No, we're almost there!" Phoebe yelled fiercely. She could feel her excitement heightening the nearer to that thing in the sky they got. Her nerves were humming in anticipation of a battle, and a goofy yet confident grin adorned her lips.

"Celebii!" Celebii called to them from ahead. Phoebe jerked her head up and saw that the blob they were following was directly above them. She could now see it for what the mysterious craft was: a hot air balloon. There was something odd about it though. That shape... It was strangely familiar... Where had she seen it before? And was that a paw on the side of the balloon?

"Rapidash, slow down a little!" Her pokemon responded accordingly and slowed their pace to a brisk canter.

"Thank Ho-oh," Leon breathed as he leaned back cautiously. He returned to gripping the fire mane instead of lying on rapidash's neck and delighted in the warm sensation on his almost numb hands. He hadn't dared relax his hold during their mad dash to catch up with celebii.

"We're not done yet, Leon," Phoebe told him, letting go so she could grab two pokeballs off of her bracelet. She clicked them out of their holdings, one bright red and the other a midnight blue with a single dark purple streak running down the center. She tossed the red one in to the air and caught it with her empty empty hand, still staring at the balloon.

"Phoebe, don't let go!" Her brother yelled, wondering how she was able to stay on the horse while it was moving so fast.

"Don't worry about me Leon. I've had lots of practice." She flashed him a quick smile before pulling her arms back one at a time and throwing the pokeballs at the balloon as hard as she could.

"Phoebe chooses charizard and sneasel!" She shouted triumphantly. Two bright flashes of light answered her call as the pokemon broke free of their confines. "Sneasel, use your slash to rip through that balloon, and charizard, catch the basket when it falls!"

Sneasel came out of its pokeball and immediately went into a fast roll that propelled it towards the balloon. It quickly sliced through the material, separating the top half of the apparatus from the bottom. Charizard was there to catch the basket and flapped its huge wings rapidly, straining against the sudden weight. With sneasel on its back, the dragon pokemon carefully lowered its cargo to the ground just as its master rode up.

"Good work you two." Phoebe stopped rapidash a little ways away from the bike snatchers, wary about who or what might come out of it She slid off rapidash the second it halted and grabbed Leon before he fell to the ground. "You too rapidash." She smiled and pat her fire pokemon's sweaty coat. "You deserve a long rest, return!" A red light shot out of her pokeball and withdrew the tired pokemon.

"Pheebs," Leon tugged at his sister's dress as she clipped the pokeball back onto her bracelet. "What is that?" He was pointing to the top half of the balloon which had fluttered down and landed on some trees not far from where they stopped. Now that it was closer and more spread out, Phoebe could tell what the shape was.

"No way!" She gasped, excitement once more racing through her body in a pleasant jolt. "That's a meowth balloon! So that means..." Both children turned to the basket charizard had dropped. An arm was on the rim, and another soon joined it along with a groan of "Jessie!"

"Prepare-for-trouble." Phoebe and Leon could barely hear the words that were huffed out.

"And-make it-double!" Was interrupted with short gasps.

"To protect the word from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie!" A middle aged woman with long, red hair leaped from the balloon basket, wincing slightly at the action but still maintaining her menacing pose.

"James!" A man that same age with blue hair joined his companion. He was not as adept at hiding the pain of moving so fast after such a landing and immediately griped his side.

"Ow! Jessie this hurts!" He whined.

Jessie sighed and swatted away the arm he had laid on her for support. "Wait until after we finish the motto!" She berated him. "Ahem. Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight, fight." James moaned.

"Meowth! That's right!" A meowth sprang up from behind them and stood on Jame's head, making the man whimper once more.

"You brats are going to pay for ruining our balloon!" Jessie threatened, shaking her fist at them. "You'll be sorry you messed with Team Rocket!"

"Hey Jess," Meowth drawled, picking his claws. "I don't think you's intimidatin' dem."

Jessie looked at the two kids more closely. Meowth was right, the children looked anything _but _scared. They were smiling, grinning actually, and she could practically _see _the stars shining in their eyes. If it wasn't for the charizard and sneasel with them, the rocket grunt would have thought they were regular kids who were in the presence of celebrities. However, those were two extremely powerful pokemon, and they had just ripped Team Rocket's precious meowth balloon to shreds. No amount of fawning could fix that.

"Hey brats, did I stutter? I said we're Team Rocket!" Jessie huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Either start groveling and begging for forgiveness or prepare to fight!"

"Phoebe!" The little boy turned excitedly to the girl. "Pheobe, that's Team Rocket! They're-"

"Yeah, I know! It's Jessie, James, and Meowth!" She squealed and clapped her hands together in delight. "It's like a dream come true!"

"Jessie, do we have fans?" James asked curiously, putting a hand over his eyes and squinting at the kids.

"Why is that so surprising? With my good looks, its a wonder this doesn't happen more often." Jessie ran a hand through her hair and laughed lightly. James and Meowth shared a dubious look but wisely choose not to comment. "But it doesn't matter. They destroyed our balloon, and they're going to pay!"

"Good idea. Let's get them twerps!" Meowth grinned and unsheathed his claws.

"But Jessie," James spoke slowly, as if trying to puzzle something out. "Isn't it strange that they recognized us? Shouldn't they only know our younger selves? And they seem familiar..."

"That's true James. Just who are they?" Jessie said suspiciously. She looked over the children once more, this time paying closer attention. They were whispering to each other excitedly and took no notice of the two adults. One had long black hair and the other had short, reddish brown locks. They looked like they were dressed for some garden party, the girl in a blue sundress and the boy in a nice green shirt and shorts.

"Now that you mention it," she trailed off. Those eyes looked familiar, the blue-green color. Where had she seen them before?

"No Leon," the trio heard the girl say. "I'm battling them."

"But Phoebe!" The boy, most likely her younger brother, complained. "This is a once in a life time chance!"

"It is rather odd that they're here, but I'm sure we'll see them again. Besides, you're underage. My pokemon might not obey you," Phoebe told him.

"Ugh! You're so mean! Dad would have let me battle them! They're so easy to beat! All it takes is a thundershock to send them flying." Leon pouted.

"Yeah, well, mom said no battling until you have your own pokemon. That includes battles not only at our gym but out here too." Phoebe pointed at the ground.

Leon growled and folded his arms in a huff. "You're just like mom," he groused.

"Excuse me, but if you think we're going to be ignored while you insult us, think again twerps!" Jessie yelled. "Just who do you think you are?"

"I," the girl flicked her hair back and grinned smugly, "am Phobe Ketchum."

"And I'm Leon!" the boy hollered. "You're going down Team Rocket!"

"Ket-ketchum?" James stuttered. "No way!"

"It's da twerps' twerps!" Meowth stated in amazement. "How did they find us?"

"Celebii!" The legendary pokemon flitted right in front of Team Rocket's faces. It waved merrily before joining the children.

"Oh, well that explains it." James said simply.

"Celebii? _You _brats get the legendary pokemon? That's just not fair!" Jessie raged, stomping her foot in anger.

"How did you get to past Team Rocket?" Phoebe asked. "Not that it really matters since we're going to send you packing soon anyways," she added as an afterthought.

"Ignorant girl," Jessie snarled. "We got here by working our butts off for the past five years, and there's no way a couple of snot nosed kids are going to ruin our plan!"

"So that's why mom and dad haven't seen you in so long." Phoebe nodded sagely. "But what in the world were you _doing_ for five years?"

"We were trying to steal a xatu so we could come to the past and steal the twerpette's bike," James pipped up. He was immediately smacked upside the head by Jessie. "What?" He whined.

"Don't tell them the plan!" Jessie snapped. "Are you an idiot?"

"But that's what we always do," James said stubbornly. This time it was Meowth that reprimanded him by giving him a quick swipe across the face.

"An' that's why we always fail!" The cat reminded him.

"Wait, wait, wait." Phoebe held up her hand. "You spent _five years _trying to steal a Xatu? Don't you think it would have been easier and faster to just _catch_ a natu and train it?"

The three villains froze. Jesse had her mouth open and her fist raised, James had a perplexed look on his face, and Meowth's left eyebrow was twitching. They stood like that for a full minute before they finally reacted.

"Yeah Jess, why didn't we do that?" James asked.

Jesse made a noise halfway between a growl and a scream. She stomped her foot and said, "Because James! We're Team Rocket, and we don't catch pokemon. We steal them!"

"Yeah! That's the way Team Rocket's does it, an' that's the way we's always gonna do it!" Meowth seconded.

"And that's the perfect segue for what we're going to do next." Jesse smiled and suddenly two pokeballs appeared in her hands. "We're going to do what we always do; teach you twerps a thing or two in a battle!"

"Well, if we're following tradition, then I guess it won't take long for you three to go blasting off again!" Phoebe said confidently. "Charizard, sneasel, I choose you!" The fire and ice pokemon rushed forward, calling out challenges.

"Seviper, dustox, let's teach these sniveling wimps a lesson!" Jessie called, throwing her pokeballs towards charizard and sneasel.

"You too victreebell and cacnea!" James shouted. Two bright lights erupted around him and the man was suddenly clobbered by his pokemon.

"Ah! Victreebel get off!" His voice came out rather muffled since his head was currently inside of Victreebel's mouth. Cacnea wasn't helped the situation much by wrapping its thorn covered arms around his leg. "Get them you two, not me!"

Leon surveyed the field as the two grass types left their trainer and joined ranks with seviper and dustox. He frowned, and then grinned slyly.

"Phoebe, you're going to need some help. Right now it's two vs. four. Let me borrow some of your pokemon so it can be a fair fight!" He wheedled.

"Not a chance," Phoebe snorted. "I can control four of my pokemon at once no problem." When her brother didn't make an angry retort like she expected, Phoebe glanced at the young boy. He looked dejected, and his lower lip was trembling. Phoebe sighed heavily. No doubt he was just faking, but she still felt sorry that he couldn't battle too.

"Tell you what, while I battle you and celebii can go and get mom's bike back," she relented.

Leon brightened immediately. "You mean it?" He asked jubilantly.

"Of course I do. But Leon," Phoebe's voice became serious and she knelt so that they were at eye level. "You have to be careful. If Team Rocket sees you they can always start that balloon back up and leave. You have to sneak by while I distract them and safely get mom's bike back over here. You think you can manage that?"

"Duh! I'm not a little kid anymore!" Leon rolled his eyes.

"Okay, as soon as I start attacking, go for it." Phoebe gave him a wink before turning her whole concentration back on Team Rocket and the battle at hand.

"This hardly seems fair," Phoebe mentioned casually. "You guys have two more pokemon than me."

"That's how Team Rocket operates sweet heart," Jessie told her smugly. She and James had jumped off the balloon basket and were now close enough so they didn't have to shout to be heard. "We're the bad guys; we don't have to play by the rules."

"Too bad, I'm sending out two more of my pokemon. Delibird, growlithe, go!" Phoebe cheered.

"Crud," Jessie muttered. "I hate these twerps. No matter where you go, or what time you're in, there are always going to be twerps to drag you down."

"Come on Jessie, let's give it our all! There's always been set backs to our plans, but we never let challenges stop us from trying not to fail before, right?" James said encouragingly.

Jessie rolled her eyes at her partner's choice of words, but smiled anyways. "Right. Dustox, use gust! Seviper, poison tail!"

James smiled in return and ordered, "Victreebel use vine whip; cacnea use pin missile!"

"Finally, we get down to the good stuff!" Phoebe grinned. "Alright guys, let's go all out!" Charizard roared in response and took flight, jets of flame bursting from its mouth. Sneasel and growlithe sprinted forward with delibird bouncing behind them, throwing explosives in the form of presents from its sack.

As the eight pokemon began to engage in battle with instructions being called from their respective trainers, Leon and celebii slowly inched away from the smoke and fray. The young boy started his trek towards the balloon basket cautiously, keeping one eye on his destination and one eye on the battle, wary of the stray attacks that erupted from the epicenter. Celebii hovered by his shoulder, nudging him on when it was safe.

After what seemed like forever, Leon reached the basket. He took a quick look around before squirming up and over the railing and dropping down inside. Even without the bike, there wouldn't have been much room to maneuver inside the carrier. As it was, Leon had a tough time wrenching the bike out the corner it had been shoved into and needed celebii's help in lifting it over the side.

Once the bike was over the edge, Leon scrambled back out of the basket and onto the ground. "Success!" He whispered joyously to celebii. The legendary pokemon gave him a thumbs up and a chirp of relief. "Now we can bring this back to mom and go home!"

"Not so fast ya twerpy little kid!"

"Oh no!" Leon turned to see Meowth standing in their way, claws bared and lips twisted in a toothy smile.

"There's no way you're stealing back our stolen bike! Ya gotta get past Meowth first," he laughed and swished his tail.

"But, but, I don't have any pokemon!" Leon scrambled backwards, hands still keeping a firm hold on the bike.

"Tough luck kiddo!" Meowth snickered. "Get ready for my fury swipes!" The cat rushed towards Leon, arms out stretched and claws glinting in the sun.

"Celebii, use confusion!" Leon shouted, turning his head aside and closing his eyes tight. He expected to feel those sharp claws ripping into his arm at any moment. There was no _way _a legendary pokemon would listen and take orders from him, a little boy who wasn't even a pokemon trainer yet. He gritted his teeth. Maybe it wouldn't hurt that bad. He'd been scratched by his mom's psyduck one time. Granted, that had only been because it had been hit by one of pikachu's stray thundershock's, and it started going crazy, waving it arms around and running in circles. This was a scratch cat pokemon using fury swipes that was totally concentrated on its target-- him.

Leon waited for what seemed like hours for the blow to come. When it didn't, he slowly opened his eyes. Still squinting, Leon turned to where Meowth was. Expecting to see the cat fly straight at him, he was surprised to see a tan and brown lump lying flat on its back ten feet away.

"Wah?" Leon opened his eyes fully and stared in awe at the fainted pokemon. Celebii flew into his sight, a worried look on its face. Leon looked from the grass pokemon to the normal type. "Did, did you...?" He trailed off. Celebii, guessing what he was asking, nodded its head and chirped reassuringly. "So, you just used confusion?" Another nod and another chirp. "Awesome!" Leon pumped his fists in the air. "I just won my first pokemon battle! Yah!!"

Leon continued his celebration until celebii yanked on his sleeve, gesturing rather frantically at the abandoned bike.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Whoops," Leon laughed guiltily and hastily took hold of the handle bars. "Come on celebii." The two raced off towards Phoebe, making sure to give the still battling pokemon a wide berth.

"Ugh, I can't see," Phoebe grumbled, covering her eyes with her arm to prevent the newest wave of grit from blowing into her eyes. When the dirt settled, she could see that her pokemon clearly had the advantage. None of them had any serious injuries, and they weren't even breathing that hard. Team Rocket's pokemon, on the other hand, didn't look so good. They were breathing heavily, and their movements were starting to get sluggish. The worse their pokemon preformed, the more frustrated James and especially Jessie seemed to get. Phoebe had learned from her parents and from first hand experience that getting angry during a pokemon battle meant you made more mistakes. Apparently Team Rocket hadn't received the same lesson.

"Charizard, growlithe, combine your flamethrower and flame wheel! Sneasel, delibird, combine icy wind and ice beam!" Phoebe commanded. The two fire attacks and the two ice attacks streamed towards the enemy pokemon and collided in a huge explosion of steam and rock. Phoebe grinned, this battle was as good as over. She had caught sight of Leon, and decided to end this battle once and for all. So far she had been going easy on Team Rocket. Sure they had gotten in a few psybeams and absorbs, but her pokemon had just competed in the Johto League. No matter how much longer Team Rocket had had their pokemon for, Phoebe's pokemon were still stronger. This was due to the fact that Team Rocket didn't train their pokemon; they focused solely on stealing. Whereas Phoebe and her pokemon had worked hard for years, the battles against her father and his friends were probably the only kind of "training" they had ever done.

"No! My precious seviper and dustox!" Jessie wailed. Her pokemon were finish, knocked unconscious by a little twerp and her horrid pokemon. "Why does this always happen to us?" She screeched and stomped her foot. Really, was getting revenge on that awful black haired twerp and his red head twerpette too much to ask for? It had taken her _ages_ to come up with the plan! She had thought long and hard about how best to ruin Ketchum's life, and after seeing him with his happy family, she had decided to mess up his past. Back in the past they could sneak around and not have to deal with that pesky pikachu. By not allowing the twerp to heal his pikachu and join up with the red head, there would be no more team twerp to deal with! It was the perfect ploy!

_"Until their offspring came and screwed it up,_" Jessie scowled.

"No! Cacnea, victreebel, get up!" James told his pokemon half heartedly. He knew they were beat. He had known they were beat the moment Phoebe and Leon had said they were Ketchums. Had there ever been a time when Team Rocket won against the twerps? No. Then why should he expect to win now? To tell the truth, he was tired with this whole revenge plan. It had gotten tiring the third year they tried to steal a xatu. He had come close to putting his foot down once or twice but had never done so for two reasons. One was the obvious, Jessie and Meowth wouldn't have listened to him. They would have simply carried on with their plans, and he would followed along like always.

The second reason was that he was hoping this could be Team Rocket's last confrontation with the twerp. He thought that maybe after this large scale revenge idea Jessie would be tired of messing with the twerp. Couldn't they just leave the poor boy be? They had been tailing him for what, fifteen years or more? It was getting a bit ridiculous. This would be their last hurrah, and then they could get on with their lives and do something else, something more... productive if nothing else.

"Ha! Once again, fire and ice have prevailed! Looks like you're done Team Rocket." James turned his head to see the Ketchum girl standing there with a smug look on her face. Her brother and the bike also stood next to her. He sighed and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. Whatever, maybe now he and Jessie could move on with their lives.

"No! We have one more pokemon! James, give me xatu's pokeball!" Jessie stuck out her hand while continuing to glare at the children.

"Jessie, we have to save xatu so we can go home," he reminded her lightly.

"Fine! Meowth, get your fuzzy butt out here and fight like a real pokemon!" Jessie snapped. Meowth, however, didn't answer as he was still knocked out cold.

"As I said," Phoebe called over. "You three are done! But hey, look on the bright side," she smiled, "maybe we'll all see each other again in the future!"

"Oh we will, and you'll have to deal with the fury of Team Rocket!" Jessie swore.

"Until then, we'll leave you with this parting gift." Phoebe gave a mock salute before gesturing to her charizard and saying, "Charizard, dragon rage!"

There was a blinding blue light, and the next James knew he was up in the air with Jessie, Meowth, and the balloon soaring next to him.

"Well, that was kind of expected," he mused quietly.

"This won't be the last time you'll see us kid!" Jessie barked out. "But for now-"

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

A little light appeared in the sky and winked out as fast as it came. Phoebe sighed happily and stretched her arms over her head before taking out her pokeballs.

"Good job everybody, I'll make sure you get an extra good snack once we get home," she promised. Four red strings of light returned her pokemon to their pokeballs. She clipped them onto her bracelet before turning to her brother.

"You did a good job too Leon," she told him, ruffling his hair fondly.

"Yeah yeah, stop messing up my hair." He pushed her hand away but smiled at her praise. His smile wavered and fell, however, when he remembered that their mission was still not over. "We have to get mom's bike back to her!"

"That's right!" Phoebe gasped, wondering how much time they had spent tracking Team Rocket and getting the bike back. Hopefully her mother hadn't left the riverside yet.

"How are we going to get it back there?" Leon asked.

"I don't know. Charizard might be too tired to carry the bike and us back to the river." Phoebe chewed on her lower lip, mind racing.

"Cele, celebii!" Celebii flew around them and gestured back the way they had come.

"Celebii? Are you saying you can take us back?" Leon puzzled out.

"Bii!" It nodded its head in affirmation.

"That's great!" Phoebe said, much relieved. "Let's go give mom her bike back!"

In a bright flash of light, the children and bike were gone.

* * *

"Remember Leon, don't tell anyone we were gone," Phoebe whispered to her brother. They were back in the present, right outside the garden party that their parents were hosting. Voices drifted over to where they were hidden behind the shrubs.

"Not even dad?" Leon whined quietly.

"No, especially not dad. If you tell dad, then you know mom will find out," she told him.

"Fine," Leon agreed dejectedly. He had been looking forward to telling his parents how he and his sister had saved them all, but apparently that was not to be. Phoebe did have a good reason for keeping this all on the down low anyways. If their mom found out, they would surely be grounded.

"Alright, let's go." The two children stepped out from the bushes and rejoined the party. They made their way through all the guests until they reached a black haired man and red haired woman who were at the very center.

"Dad!" Leon yelled and launched himself into his father's grasp.

"Hey Leon." The man laughed and gave his son a quick hug. "We were just talking about you two."

"Really?" Phoebe came up to stand by her mom.

"Really." The woman smiled and brushed a strand of her daughter's hair away from her face. "We were saying how weird it would be if Team Rocket started to follow you or Leon around just like they did with your father and I."

"If they did, Pikachu and I might just have to come and send them blasting off again!" The children's dad said enthusiastically.

"You wouldn't have to do that dad; Team Rocket is a push over," Leon told him confidently.

"And how do you know that?" The man asked. "You never know, those three could have gotten a lot stronger."

"No they haven't!" Leon rolled his eyes, completely missing Phoebe's furious look and desperate hand motions. "Phoebe and I just went to the past with celebii and totally kicked their butts."

Silence greeted his words. Leon slowly realized what he said, and his mouth opened in horror. Phoebe smacked herself on the forehead and started muttering curses under her breath. Their parents and the other adults stood still, staring at the children. That was, until their mom spoke.

"You did WHAT?!"

* * *

And so it ends. Feel free to leave me a review!


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